"This is the first time I've pushed this far past the boundaries."
Roshan's voice came out flat. "And you did it anyway."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because people were about to die. Including both of you if this dragged on to a full blown war."
Neither had a response to that.
Because she was right.
They would have fought.
People WOULD have died.
"When did you get this ability?" Roshan asked after a long moment.
Faelyn hesitated, heat rising to her face.
"When we... when we completed the bond."
Both chiefs went very still.
"When we mated," she clarified quietly. "That's when it unlocked."
"A reward?" Roshan's voice had gone soft, almost reverent.
"Yes. For..." She struggled to find the right words. "For completing the bond with you. Both of you."
She winced as another wave of pain crashed through her skull.
"It came with knowledge. Understanding of what it could do."
"And what it couldn't."
"And I ignored that."
